Debbie over at Right Truth posted a blog entry titled 'Are you a Finder, Thinker, or Linker?' The question, for bloggers, was based on the classifications laid out by Wretchard in an essay at the Belmont Club.
Wretchard classifies bloggers into 'Finders', who report direct experiences, while 'Thinkers' find stories from the raw data, and Linkers spread and disseminate the stories, which, if they find their way to the big-time bloggers like Michelle Malkin et al, become the huge stories which spread throughout the blogosphere and beyond. Sometimes the blogosphere originates a story which then makes its way to the 'old media'; in that case, the bloggers, instead of feeding off the old media, are leading the way.
Debbie invited fellow bloggers to consider what their particular goal was, or how they fit into Wretchard's taxonomy. I am not sure that I fit into those categories, but in the absence of any alternative classifications, I guess I would say I tend to be a thinker and linker, not a 'finder'. As I wrote in an earlier blog entry, most bloggers are not on-the-scene reporters, out in the field gathering news. (For that matter, contrary to the stereotype, neither are traditional reporters, necessarily, who often write stories regurgitating press releases, or who write from 'template' stories. This is evident in the content of most newspapers these days.)
A friend asked me a few weeks ago if my intent in blogging was to persuade or convert people to my way of thinking. My answer was that I definitely don't seek out people of opposing viewpoints to debate and persuade them; I've been in too many such fruitless exchanges in real life and on the Internet in various discussions. In my experience, people who are very liberal are usually impervious to logic and argument; their opinions are based in feeling and emotion, which are not amenable to reason. And in fact I think that only a small percentage of people, regardless of political views, are open to change, or even willing to examine their beliefs, much less change their opinions. Especially after a certain age (thirty, perhaps?) people are very attached to their beliefs, often defiantly so, even in the face of contrary facts or evidence. There are, however, a few people who are concerned enough with truth to follow it wherever it leads, even if this means doing a 180, and admitting they had been wrong or mistaken. But it is only a brave few who can do this, seemingly.
It may be understandable that people cling fiercely to their beliefs; for some people, their whole identity and sense of self is tied up in their belief system, and to change would be wrenching for them. For other people, simple peer pressure determines where they stand; if the predominant beliefs among their work colleagues or their neighbors is liberal, they would never dare to go against the current. This is especially true of people in academia and the media. (For an example, see the linked article in the post below).
So, being a realist, I have no mission to convert liberals or leftists. I think that might be as misguided as trying to democratize the Middle East. So my goal is a little more modest and realistic, I hope. I think my blog might be aimed at those conservative and traditionally-minded people who have heretofore never really thought about certain things, such as the far-reaching changes being wrought in our country. There are many people who are slowly waking up to the fact that America is not the America we grew up in, and it is not an America we want for our children and grandchildren. Many people who have automatically voted GOP are now becoming disaffected and alienated; they, although they may not be very political, somehow assumed that the GOP represented them, and now, with amnesty looming and Islam growing in influence, they are dismayed. Many such people sense that the GOP has taken a wrong turn or three, and they are downright disenchanted. I would like to spur such disaffected conservatives to really examine how ''mainstream'' conservatism, as supposedly embodied in the GOP, has gone off course. I would hope that such people would see the need to restore conservatism in this country, and halt the liberalizing trends which are endangering our country and our future.
Without a truly conservative, tradtionalist movement in this country, we have little hope of preserving America and returning our country to what it should be. Things have deteriorated so far in America that conserving is not even possible until we undo some of the damage the liberals in both parties have wrought, and restore the original values on which America was founded.
There is a desperate need for real conservative ideas to be heard, and the MSM very pointedly exclude traditional and paleo-conservative voices. Neocons have completely usurped conservatism, and now dominate the 'conservative' commentariat. So-called conservative talk radio is mostly dominated by GOP cheerleaders like Limbaugh, Hewitt, and Hannity. And of course there is Fox News, which is considered by some to be 'far right', although the right-liberal/neocon viewpoint dominates there. Fox News is seriously compromised by the Saudi influence of Bin Talal.
Fox News seems to exist to herd conservative opinion within accepted bounds; to promote the GOP and its right-liberalism, and to divert its watchers away from the big issues of our day by focusing on partisan foodfights and tabloid stories, like the Trump-O'Donnell feud and other such junk-food news.
Many of the stories I link to here on this blog are stories that I guarantee you will never hear on Fox News, or on Limbaugh, or Hugh Hewitt, or Hannity, or Laura Ingraham. They are too busy pushing the talking points. So I do try to focus on underreported stories.
Without the blogosphere, there would be no medium in which traditional or paleoconservative viewpoints can be heard. And now there are some solid traditionalist conservative blogs which seem to be growing in influence. My blogroll on the sidebar lists some of these traditionalist blogs.
I know that some of my readers are already on the same page, so in that sense, I may be preaching to the choir. But just as I find sustenance and encouragement from reading the ideas and thoughts of my fellow conservatives and traditionalists, I hope that I might provide the same for other like-minded people. Sometimes I need exhortation, and I hope that we might all exhort each other to keep fighting the good fight. It's easy to get discouraged when we see the crises facing our country, and the somnolence of many of our neighbors and fellow citizens, so we need to gather strength from each other.
After I explained my motives for blogging, my inquisitive friend said that it sounded as if I have a 'mission' to blog. Maybe that is the way I see it. In a sense, I suppose I am following in the footsteps of my ancestors, some of whom were Minutemen in the colonial days, and some of whom were signers of the Declaration of Independence. And perhaps, I'm inspired by the example of my distant cousin Samuel Prescott, who was one of the three who rode out on April 18, 1775, to warn that the British 'regulars' were coming. Prescott, Dawes, and Paul Revere, supposedly, provoked the ire of some of the sleeping citizens who were awakened by their shouts and their noisy gallop through the towns. Then, as always, there are people who would rather sleep through the crisis than to wake up and stir themselves. Some people prefer to be somnolent and to let others face the enemy. Such are many of the 'conservatives' in America today; they prefer to sleep on, and pretend there is no enemy approaching as they sleep. And they are angry when someone disturbs their slumber; but be that as it may, I will keep on sounding the alarm, here and wherever I can.
